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With the help of outside hitter senior Katie Martin and her 17 kills, St. Edward’s volleyball team opened conference play against St. Mary’s by sweeping scores of 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 on Sept. 21.

On the most packed night of the season, the Hilltoppers seemed to be in trouble for most of the first set in the first Battle of the Saints volleyball game of the season. St. Edward’s was down by as much as 20-12, but a late 13-3 rally saw them come back to take the first set from St. Mary’s. They never looked back.

Despite not winning a set, the individual scores help paint a clearer picture of the night. As with the first set, the game was a constant nail biter with St. Edward’s barely managing to keep a lead through the second set. The beginning of the third set provided even more tension for both teams as they went back and forth with the lead a few times before SEU was able to sneak up for a 12-11 lead and run with it to never concede the lead for the rest of the game.

With an attendance of 495, the bleachers were specifically filled that evening, partly due to the Residence Hall Attendance Challenge, which helped bring out more students to the game. At halftime, East Hall was announced as the winning hall by having most attendees in the crowd on their behalf. Because both East and Teresa Hall were combined for the challenge, the $100 prize was awarded to both residence halls.

SEU Stat Leaders

Kills: Katie Martin (17); Melissa McNeil (13); Mikayla Parker (6)

Aces: Katie Martin (3); Julia Hartley (1); Madison Heald (1)

Assists: Madison Heald (20); Julia Hartley (17); Melissa McNeil (3)

Digs: Morgan Beckham (20); Melissa McNeil (6); Katie Martin (6)

As for the rest of the weekend, SEU swept Texas A&M – International 26-24, 25-11, 25-14 and also won in five sets against Henderson State 25-22, 18-25, 29-27, 23-25, 15-8.

SEU now sits at 11-4, 2-0 and will resume conference play on Sept. 28 against Newman in the Recreation and Convocation Center.